Beast of Reincarnation is a tough game. It combines the heavy-hitting enemies that Soulslikes are known for with enough of its own mechanics to make it a fresh experience for those who are both seasoned veterans and genre newcomers. Finding your own rhythm can be satisfying, but the game starts out challenging and doesnât let up, so if you want some early tips to help you get some momentum going, here are some things to keep in mind as Emma and Koo face the beasts in Game Freakâs post-apocalyptic world.

There is, in fact, English VO

One thing I did not realize until the gameâs credits started rolling is that there is actually an option to turn on English voice acting in Beast of Reincarnation; the game just does nothing to direct you to that fact. This isnât to say that the English track is better or anything, but as someone who doesnât speak Japanese, there were points at which I missed dialogue in the middle of fights because all I had were the tiny subtitles. To access the English voices, youâll need to change them in the main menu, rather than in the pause menu while playing.

Koo can hold his own

Koo, Emmaâs canine companion, can sometimes go off on his own to attack enemies that youâre not focusing on. You might feel tempted to run after him and help him out, but I found that he was more than capable of taking out enemies by himself, so donât feel like you have to baby him. My boyâs got bark and bite.

Emma canât swim

This was a fun realization to make early on. Emma never learned how to swim, I guess, and if you start running through a body of water in an effort to escape a tough fight, youâll get plopped right back on the shore where your enemies will be waiting for you.Â

The dodge window is shorter than you think, so prioritize the dodge roll upgrade

At the start of the game, Emma has a side-step dodge ability that requires incredibly precise timing and also typically wonât move her far enough away to not be lunged at by an enemy. If you look down the Tracking Shot path on Emmaâs skill tree, youâll see a full-blown dodge roll just waiting to be unlocked. Prioritize that as you upgrade because itâll help you a great deal in terms of getting the hell out of the way.

Before you fight a boss, scout the area for a campsite

Most boss fights in Beast of Reincarnation have a campsite nearby where you can rest, save, and apply upgrades, but a few of these arenât in the most obvious locations. If you see a giant beastie waiting for you in a clearing, do not approach it until you have found a place to sit down first, or you wonât have a checkpoint when it inevitably whoops your ass.

No, actually donât look up at the sky

Early on, a character will tell you that in the world of Beast of Reincarnation, thereâs a superstition that people who look up at the everpresent crescent moon will die. This is true. Donât do it. Ask me how I know.

Rest at the walker for more scenes and resources

While it may be tempting to keep pushing through an area and stopping only at campsites, itâss worth it to head back to your base of operations from time to time. Not only can you restock supplies, check in on crops you have growing, and have Koo and your young companion Kagura fill out research for more items, but youâll get some character moments as well. When you take a seat at any campsite, the bottom-right corner of the menu will note whether your companions have something new to talk about, so make time to go see them.

Watch wild fights play out

Every now and then, youâll come across enemies fighting against each other in the wild. Donât immediately jump into the scrap, as eventually one side of this tussle is going to win out. Then youâll only have one group to deal with rather than all of them at once.

Use Emmaâs hair to get around enemies giving you trouble

One of the best tools youâll have at your disposal in Beast of Reincarnation is Emmaâs blight-stricken braid. This allows her to extend her hair like roots from a tree, raising her from the ground or creating bridges she can cross to get to other platforms and high ground. This is extremely useful for either positioning yourself for a preemptive strike, or just straight up avoiding fights youâre not prepared for. Beast of Reincarnation isnât an open-world game, but its environmental design is pretty good about giving you places to climb or escape to if you need to put some distance between you and a group of foes. Even if you donât immediately have high ground to stand on, elevating yourself with Emmaâs hair is a great way to set up a nice slo-mo descent as you rain down arrows upon your enemies.

Story difficulty is much, much easier, butâ¦

If Beast of Reincarnation is giving you too much trouble, it does have an easy setting in Story difficulty. Emma will take significantly less damage, but you still need some game sense to get through tough fights. Youâll still need to know how to parry, dodge, and command Koo to take advantage of enemy weaknesses. Donât expect Beast of Reincarnation to suddenly become an effortless hack-and-slash if you choose this difficulty, though it will drastically lower the number of times youâll die against hard bosses.